Hundreds Gather Outside St. Patrick’s Cathedral for Reparation Against Sacrilege
News about the public sacrilege held in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City spread worldwide. How could the archdiocese permit such a blasphemous funeral service for a notorious anti-Catholic homosexual activist and transgender prostitute?
Faithful Catholics the world over were rightly horrified. Something had to be done.
Responding to the vile sacrilege, the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property (TFP) held rosary rallies of reparation in front of the Cathedral on Fifth Avenue. On February 24—26, hundreds of concerned Catholics joined the three-day prayer crusade.
Blasphemy in “America’s Parish Church”
On February 15, cathedral staff assigned Fr. Edward Dougherty and Fr. Andrew King to officiate at a funeral service for “Cecilia Gentili,” a man whose life work focused on promoting sin.
During the service, which resembled a lewd drag show, men dressed as women gave eulogies. Two transvestite men kissed in the sanctuary. A transvestite man speaking from the pulpit referred to Gentili as “this whore. This great whore. Saint Cecilia, mother of all whores!” One woman interrupted the Cathedral cantor as he sang the Ave Maria, imposing her own offensive wording of “Ave Cecilia.”
Unfortunately, nothing was done by the clergy present to stop the blasphemy. The officiating priest joked and laughed with the crowd, which resembled a mob out of the French Revolution with their hoots and screams.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, had a private Mass of reparation said after the incident took place and claimed the archdiocese did not know who the funeral would be for. To the dismay of many, the cardinal even praised Fr. Dougherty’s actions as “heroic.”
Faithful Catholics React
Public sacrilege calls for public reparation. Thus, over 26,000 faithful signed a TFP petition (here and here) to Cardinal Dolan asking for “acts of public reparation to God” and “real and lasting measures” to prevent sacrileges from occurring in the future.
At the Saturday and Sunday rallies, prayer warriors gathered with a statue of Our Lady of Fatima. On the third day of reparation, a life-size image of Our Lord Scourged was displayed on the steps of the Cathedral while Catholics prayed from the public sidewalk.
Amazing Sacrifices
Some Catholics made great sacrifices to show their love of God and hatred of blasphemy.
A father and his children drove fourteen hours from Wisconsin to Manhattan to pray outside St. Patrick’s. Another flew in from Denver, Colorado.
“I took off work to come,” said one gentleman. “I needed to be here.”
A group from greater Philadelphia filled a bus to get to New York.
The weather was frigid. When a TFP member asked one of the Catholics if she could give an interview, she responded, “I don’t know if I can. I am too cold to speak.” Yet, all the Catholics gladly braved the weather and offered it up as a sacrifice.
“Homosexual sin and the Catholic faith are irreconcilable.”
The reparation campaign reached thousands of pedestrians and motorists. In addition, 50,000 participated in the recitation of the rosary online through TFP Student Action’s live-stream.
The gathering was unmistakably public. Hundreds of Catholics lined the sidewalk. TFP members wore their trademark red capes and held their 18-foot tall red standard.
The large banner read: “Homosexual sin and the Catholic faith are irreconcilable. We protest the sacrilege perpetrated here!” Flyers were also distributed to the general public, titled, “Will Anyone be Held Accountable for the Trans Sacrilege at St. Patrick’s?”
No Compromise
“I work in the building across the street and saw your standard from my window,” said one young lady. “I said to myself, ‘I can’t believe TFP is here!’ and I had to come down and join you,” she said. “We cannot compromise with this sin against the Church!”
One man stepped out of the cathedral, visibly surprised by the campaign. He took out a rosary and joined the ranks of the prayer warriors for the rest of the rally. People from all walks of life approved of the TFP’s rally: Policemen, construction workers, tourists, security guards, and staff from the cathedral, two of whom joined the rally.
Occasion of Grace
God shed His grace upon the campaign. The rally touched pedestrians. When passing by the statue of Our Lady, some people made the sign of the cross, and others paused to venerate her. A young man, seeing the image of Our Lord Scourged, stopped for several minutes to contemplate the scene with a prayerful disposition.
Children of Light
The blasphemy at St. Patrick’s Cathedral was a watershed moment in the history of the Catholic Church. The sin was public and unprecedented, yet Cardinal Dolan’s response seemed inadequate and disappointing. However, hundreds of faithful filled the breach where others failed.
Without a bold outcry, evil will only become haughtier and more aggressive. As one Catholic protester put it, “We had to be here. We had to make public reparation!”
At the end of the last rally, a Carmelite priest mounted the steps of the Cathedral. Prayer warriors knelt below as he gave them his blessing.
Finally, the calm and lofty stains of the Salve Regina in Latin punctuated the end of the rally like a golden period. The Gregorian chant echoed off the stone façade of the neo-Gothic Cathedral and wafted down 5th Avenue, clashing with the din of city life and its worldly cacophony.
May the Queen of Heaven, Our Lady, who crushes the head of the wicked serpent (Gen. 3:15), protect the Holy Catholic Church and guide the children of light in these days of darkness.
Viva Cristo Rey!
Viva!